Will Elmo scandal hurt toy sales?

Elmo toys are a huge seller every holiday season, but after the resignation of Elmo voice and puppeteer Kevin Clash, some industry pros wonder if thousands of the lovable furry red monsters will be left on the shelves this holiday season.

Clash resigned Tuesday in the wake of a new allegation that he previously had sexual relationships with underage individuals. He was first accused last week of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old named Sheldon Stephens, now 23, but the man later withdrew the allegation — Stephens’s attorney said in a statement that the affair was “an adult consensual relationship.” However, just as Clash stepped down as the voice for Elmo Tuesday, another man, Cecil Singleton, filed a lawsuit alleging that he had a two-week relationship with Clash in 1993, when he was 15 years of age.

But will the scandal damage Elmo’s holiday sales? “This is a kind of existential question,” says Adam Hanft, CEO of marketing firm Hanft Projects. “Does the puppet exist outside of the domain of the puppeteer? Children think so, that’s for sure.” That, he says, will be enough. Toymaker Hasbro — which sells its new giggling $40 LOL Elmo and music-playing $40 Let’s Rock Elmo preschool toys in stores like Kmart and Target — has little reason to worry. “Elmo himself will be furry Teflon,” he says.

Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash quits Sesame Street

Sesame Workshop moved swiftly to minimize any damage. “Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from ‘Sesame Street,’” it said in a statement Tuesday. Elmo made his first appearance in 1972 and was voiced by three different puppeteers prior to Clash. Clash released a separate statement saying, “Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work ‘Sesame Street’ is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer.”

For its part, Hasbro says it doesn’t expect any impact on the sale of its range of Elmo products. “We are confident that Elmo will remain an integral part of ‘Sesame Street’ and that ‘Sesame Street’ toys will continue to delight children for years to come,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. However, industry pros say Let’s Rock Elmo is unlikely to do what Fisher-Price’s Tickle Me Elmo did in 1996 — create a consumer craze and sell out in stores across the country. (Tickle Me Elmos still sell on eBay from around $20 to $100, depending on the edition.)

Some parents might think twice about picking up Elmo merchandise, experts say, especially DVDS like “Ready for School,” where Elmo appears voiced by Clash and, at least until the current scandal dies down, $22 Elmo T-shirts. “The scandal would hurt sales among adults who haven’t got the capacity for abstract thought or who are unable to separate a character from an actor,” says Chris Byrne, content director of TimeToPlayMag.com. “Elmo has never been accused of anything, and to Elmo’s core audience, Elmo is as he always was.”

Others realize there is a difference between a man and a million-dollar Muppet. Judith Lederman, a grandmother in Detroit, Mich., says her grandson loves the Let’s Rock Elmo she bought him last year and will continue to keep him supplied with merchandise featuring his favorite Sesame Street character. “I will buy him the latest Elmo gadget no matter what the puppeteer’s problem or issue is,” she says. “Elmo didn’t do anything wrong. He’s just a fuzzy, red, innocent, little child icon.” Her message to the media: “Please don’t throw the Muppet out with the bathwater.”

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